More than half of the acceleration in finished goods prices was due to the finished consumer foods index, which advanced 1.5 percent after edging up 0.2 percent in February. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy increased 0.2 percent, following a 0.1-percent gain in February. Prices for finished energy goods climbed 0.6 percent in March, after rising 0.2 percent in February.

From March 2003 to March 2004, prices for finished goods climbed 1.4 percent. During the same period, the finished consumer foods index jumped 5.3 percent and prices for finished goods other than foods and energy rose 0.7 percent. The index for finished energy goods declined 0.4 percent for the 12 months ended March 2004.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. For more information, see "Producer Price Indexes -- March 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-732. All producer price indexes are routinely subject to revision once, 4 months after original publication, to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents. Note: The Producer Price Index for March 2004, originally scheduled for release on April 8, was released on April 22.